In Los Angeles, a Brownfield Gets a Second Life

A densely packed, distressed neighborhood in South Los Angeles has a new, nine-acre park that will include a 4.5-acre wetland, filtering storm water while bringing much-needed green space into a community historically plagued by nearby industrial facilities.

Even better, the park replaces a former brownfield, a paved bus and rail storage yard long maintained by the Metropolitan Transit agency. The park will include native trees and plant gardens, walking trails and ponds. The grand opening was held earlier this month.

The $26 million project was funded in part through a 2004 settlement agreement reached in a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice, the state of California, and the Santa Monica Baykeeper against the city of Los Angeles under the federal Clean Water Act to force cleanup of the city’s sewer system. A number of local citizens and civil rights groups joined the suit in support of the claim. Under the settlement, the city did not admit legal liability but agreed to a $2 billion program "to reduce Sanitary Sewer Overflows to the maximum extent feasible, and to investigate, resolve, and mitigate sewer odors."

Funding was also provided under multiple federal and local programs, including a local bond measure passed in 2004 to support water quality improvement projects. This is how the city’s application described its proposal:

The Wetland Park is proposed to include storm water pre-treatment best management practices (BMP) measures, a stormwater treatment wetland of approximately 4.0 to 4.5 acres, renovation of an 81,760 square foot on-site structure, open park space, and a parking lot with a vegetated swale to direct runoff into the wetland. The Wetland Park will provide educational opportunities and wildlife viewing, historical railway elements, a community multi-use center, and historical building reutilization ...

The Wetland Park will assist in minimizing the introduction of pollutants including; bacteria, oil & grease and gasoline, suspended sediments, and heavy metals, all of which are components of urban runoff that ultimately are washed into receiving waters . . . Park amenities include trails, boardwalks, observation decks, picnic areas, a natural rock-garden seating area, educational signage, and renovation of an 81,760 square-foot on-site building for mixed public use.

Other experts who may have insight on the perceived success of the park were the children who attended the ribbon cutting. When a group from 49th Street Elementary School were asked if they would miss a soccer field, they all agreed that this park is just as important. ‘Birds need a place to play, too’ said one fourth-grader.

On the Outside website, Mary Catherine O’Connor observes that, although the new park needs time to mature, another fully functioning artificial wetland - built a mile away in 2006 - suggests that birds, turtles, "and even an egret" may soon be among the new site’s inhabitants.

The Santa Monica Baykeeper is a frequent partner and client in NRDC’s efforts to bring the benefits of a clean watershed to all LA residents. The environmental justice group The City Project summed up what the new park represents:

This work in and out of court is a best practice example of community groups, civil rights attorneys, government agencies at the federal, state and local level, and mainstream environmentalists working together to improve quality of life, human health, and environmental quality and justice for all.

About the Author

Kaid Benfield is the director of the Sustainable Communities and Smart Growth program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, co-founder of the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, and co-founder of Smart Growth America.
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Kaid Benfield is the director of the Sustainable Communities
and Smart Growth program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, co-founder
of the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, and co-founder of Smart
Growth America. He is the author or co-author of Once There
Were Greenfields (NRDC 1999), Solving
Sprawl (Island Press 2001), Smart Growth
In a Changing World (APA Planners Press 2007), and Green Community (APA Planners Press 2009). In 2009,
Kaid was voted one of the "top urban thinkers" on Planetizen.com, and
he was named one of "the most influential people in sustainable planning
and development" in 2010 by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
He blogs at NRDC's Switchboard.